48 towns, cities are areas of concern
THE Police Regional Office 6 has categorized 48 towns and cities in Western Visayas as election areas of concern. Iloilo province tops the list with 16 areas of concern in the entire region.
PNP Director for Western Visayas Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas said Iloilo province has 16 areas. It is followed by Negros Occidental with 10; Antique 8; Aklan 7; Capiz 5 and Guimaras 2.
Cuevas added the areas of concern were then classified into two categories. Areas placed in Category 1 are those with high possibility of election-related violent incidents (ERVI).
Places with history of ERVI’s, intense political rivalries and presence of insurgents are listed in Category 2. There are 25 towns which belong to category 1 and 23 are under the category 2.
In Iloilo province, the towns of Anilao, Duenas, Estancia, Maasin, Passi City, San Enrique and Tigbauan are in Category 1. The municipalities of Bingawan, Calinog, Guimbal, Igbaras, Lambunao, Leon, Miag-ao, Tubungan and San Joaquin are in Category 2.
In the province of Aklan, the municipalities of municipalities of Banga, Batan, Buruanga, Ibajay, Kalibo, Malinao, and New Washington are considered belong to Category 1.
The towns of Anini-y, Barbaza, Libertad, Lauaan, Valderrama and Tibiao in the province of Antique belong to Category 1. San Remegio and Sibalom fall under the Category 2.
In the province of Capiz, the town of Pilar and President Roxas are in Category 1 while Tapaz, Cuartero and Maayon in Catergory 2.
The municipalities of Nueva Valencia and San Lorenzo in the province of Guimaras are under the Category 1.Only the town of Pulupandan in
Negros Occidental was considered as election hotspot under Category 1. Candoni, Escalante, Sipalay, Himamaylan, Cadiz City, Silay City, Victorias City, Sagay City and Moises Padilla are in Category 2 because of the presence of armed rebels.
The list of election areas of concern was based in the 2004 and 2007 election related violence. There are also areas which are added to the list because of the presence of rebels, said Cuevas.
According to Comelec-6 regional director Atty. Dennis Ausan said the areas listed by the PRO-6 are not considered as “election hotspots.” It is a list of areas viewed by the PRO-6 and Comelec are needs that “close monitoring.’
The list needs to be validated by the joint AFP-PNP-Comelec. There will be a coordinating conference with the three agencies on December 28 to update the list. These areas could either be elevated into areas of immediate concern or downgraded to election areas of concern.
The areas which are strong indication of a threat and could affect the conduct of election should be categorized into areas election of immediate concern, said Ausan.
